82 In Touch with Nature. 



rewarded. In such a frame, drifting in my little 

 boat, the river toyed with me, as it did with the 

 little sand-pipers that played bo-peep with the 

 waves. What marvellous variety crowds the little 

 beach ! Where I stranded, upon a long and 

 narrow island, there was gold in abundance ; yet 

 gold that passes current only among nature's 

 lovers. It was only the clustered bloom of caltha 

 and the gilded spikes of orontium, but what did 

 this matter ? A coin would have been lost to view 

 here and exchangeable for nothing. 



When, in 1684, one William Watson, yeoman, 

 of Nottinghamshire, England, ventured up the 

 river in search of a home, he landed not far away 

 and left recorded : " Here is not only a pleasant 

 spot for a home, where toil will be rewarded, but 

 a goodly spot wherein to rest." It is true, he 

 might have had in mind a proper place in which 

 to be buried, as under some one of the old oaks 

 that overshadowed the river's winding shores, but 

 I do not believe it. Give him credit for thinking 

 of the closing hours of such April days as these, 

 when the evening hymn of the thrush and plaint 

 of drowsy finches should prove restful as sleep; 



